Charlie, classic NYC bagels are smaller (3-4 oz), chewy with some crust on the outside. It should *not* be light and fluffy! That’s what people call “rolls with a hole”. Bagels definitely should have some chew to them and require you to have to pull some when biting. I grew up in NJ & NYC in the '70's and now make my own, since it’s difficult to find great ones in Atlanta (Emerald City Bagels are good).

@seth8629

6 ай бұрын

Correct 💯

@otterdonnelly9959

6 ай бұрын

Exactly. I was confused when he complained about it. Cuz I’m like uh, NYers prefer them crusty and dense. That’s a defining characteristic since toasting isn’t popular.

@cs83

6 ай бұрын

Yeah totally agree, it's no coincidence that the only bagel he liked in NY was in the middle of a tourist trap. They are supposed to be dense, not light.

@sobamonkey

6 ай бұрын

I agree completely, light and fluffy is NOT what you want in a bagel. That's big box grocery store bagels; basically just rings of bread. You need that fresh and warm glutinous pull and satisfying doughy chew encased in a thin crunchy crust. Also check out NJ as bagel culture is deep there (Bagel Loops in Wayne is a great start).

@pathologicaldoubt

6 ай бұрын

NYer here. What the OP said. Gotta be chewy - but not like stale, tough, chewy. It’s this fresh chewy feel

I started working on recreating New York style bagels last year and I think I finally found the trick. Add barley malt syrup (which is the sweetener of the bagel) to the water during the boiling step. The boiling step is very, very easy to mess up though. The water needs to be at a roaring boil and not have too many bagels at once. Charlie, if you want my recipe, which is a classic New York bagel style, I’d be happy to share.

@jamesstein5087

6 ай бұрын

Great advice, I do the same. I also use a bagel board.

@JoshWebs

6 ай бұрын

⁠@@jamesstein5087 Yes, bagel boards make a big difference. I made my own with cedar and burlap.

First New York-Style Pizza and now New York-Style Bagels!? I love this channel so much :D

I worked at a bagel shop while in college, the key to a good bagel is high gluten flour, barley malt syrup in the water used to boil bagels and using a bagel board to bake them. A bagel board is a cedar plank wrapped in burlap, it is soaked in water and placed in the oven, the bagels are placed upside down on the plank for part of the baked and then then flipped right side up for the rest of the bagel, this prevents burning of the top and provides some steam.

Regarding the "Dough Improver" - Brian Lagerstrom spoke about something called "Dough Conditioner", it's in a video about burger buns but sounds like something that would help with bagels too. The vid is "This Burger Bun Took Me 10 Years to Figure Out". NY Bagels is such a good idea for your next deep dive series! Looking forward to it.

Tompkins being a punching bag for this episode is crazy.

If you want to stick to bread based stuff, come to New Orleans and do a Po-Boy series. There's nothing like New Orleans style French bread. I'll show you the best spots.

@verndogs

6 ай бұрын

When I was in New Orleans, had lunch with a friend who grew up there. We had an hour long discussion about the different types of New Orleans Style French bread down to the detail. So yeah, that would make an amazing series

@CharlieAndersonCooking

6 ай бұрын

That's definitely on the list as well!

I think the bagel consistency lends itself much better to open faced consumption when putting in/on soft spreads. The structure is just too dense for the slippery filling not to be propelled out when biting into the bagel as a sandwich. If I do eat them as a sandwich I'd much rather have things in them that have to bitten off.

@thisbretthall

6 ай бұрын

I’m guessing you’re not from NYC? The excess cream cheese dropping out is just part of the experience 😂

@SeanQuinn4

5 ай бұрын

​@@thisbretthallgotta leave it in the paper 🤌 Helps add some mystery to the white splotches on the subway floor 🙄

YES! I'M SO EXCITED! And you tried an egg bagel! Yes! I hope you'll actually attempt that when you develop your recipe. About toasting... so, the idea is that a bagel is best when it's fresh out of the oven. If you have to get it toasted, then you aren't getting it fresh. I love Kenji's trick for this... instead of slicing and toasting an "older" bagel, preheat your oven to 375, barely wet it (like run the sink and quickly dip it into the stream), and let it heat in the oven for about 5 minutes. Requires some forethought, though if you have a countertop toaster oven, this would work, as well. Another note... there's a chef named Maggie Glezer who wrote a book called "A Blessing of Bread". In her recipe, it's very little yeast, but she doesn't use barley malt syrup in the water at all. In fact, for her boiling water, it's just plain water, and she said in an interview, after having worked at (or with, for research purposes) many bagel shops (including Russ and Daughters supposedly... though I did get that 3rd-hand) she had never seen any of them put *anything* in their boil water. Instead, she uses quite a bit of *non-diastatic* malt powder in the dough. Maybe something to look into?

@evanfrucht

6 ай бұрын

An authentic Polish Jewish immigrant/classic New York bagel IS boiled, small and chewy. NOT light, fluffy, or big.

Yay, I was hoping you'd do a bagel series! I went to NY a few weeks ago but didn't get the chance to try a bagel. Now, hopefully, I can make my own that will be just as good!

Lox isn’t just cured Salmon like Nova, lox has some sugar baked in - giving it a slight sweetness you don’t naturally have with salmon

I’m so happy you are doing a bagels series! I was gonna suggest it in fact! Loved the pizza and cheesesteak series so much. Bagels and pizza are my two favorite things and favorite to make, can’t wait to see if I gain any new insights to bagels from your tests!

❤️ Charlie, I love how you’ve turned this into a series ❤️ 🌼Just a suggestion for your series - I’d love to see your take on NYC style (similar to Levain Bakery) chunky cookies with a chewy interior🌼

Oh my god, a new series. Absolute legend. I just did this bagel tour a few weeks ago, curious to see charlie's thoughts

I could tell the Utopia bagel was much better than the first two just by looking at it. It has that signature shine, and the proper fluffiness. It's very distinct. I'm a NY'er (no longer living there) and I agree with you on the cream cheese. It's ridiculous how much they put on but it is what it is. Also agree on the toasted. I prefer it not toasted when they are super fresh and you get that real chew. But after a day or two, or if you freeze them, then I would toast them. Excited for you to make these!

Oh I'm so excited for this series! Because of your NY pizza series, I'm now making NY Style pizza at home that is as good as any pizza shop. My friends and family all love it!

Your videos are fantastic. As a native New Yorker, i agree that we don't like our bagels toasted because the good spots will have them fresh and they'll have that crunch, and if you're lucky they will still be warm when you get them. Glad you went off the beaten path and checked out Utopia. I grew up with a place in the Bronx called Bagels on Bartow which was always solid.

all lox is smoked salmon, gravlax is unsmoked cured salmon. Maybe what you're thinking is cold smoked versus hot smoked. Lox is still raw but it is cold smoked

So excited to watch this series!

I just noticed how much your subscriber count went up! Congrats man! Keep up the great videos! I'm looking forward to the bagel ones.

@CharlieAndersonCooking

6 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Sooo excited for a Charlie Anderson bagel deep dive!!! Would pay to see it

Charles! You can keep doing these deep dives into my favorite foods!

Im excited for this series!

As a Manhattan resident I can honestly say I’ve never been to Essa. My local place is Broad Nosh and they are fantastic. Pop Up is great. And of course Absolute.

Love your content. You’re actually answering the important questions and running the tests we come to the internet for and barely ever receive. I know you’re not from New York and on limited time, but if you don’t know, it really matters which location you’re at. Basically the Rays pizza effect. There’s so many knock offs of anything good you don’t know when you’re at the real/right one. Personally the best bagel I’ve ever had was from Ess-a but my buddy was very clear only one location mattered cuz the others sucked and that it was imperative to wait for them to dump a fresh batch right out of the oven. Didn’t even use cream cheese just butter and a steaming fresh bagel. I’ve still never had anything like it. Keep up the great work man.

Nice video! I recommend trying Knickerbocker bagel in bushwick next time you’re in NY or Brooklyn bagel and coffee which has a few locations across queens and in Manhattan as well. I have a few pizza spots to suggest as well. Cheers!

Love this video! I've been to NYC a few times and I lived off amazing pizza, bagels, and sandwiches.

Charlie. You need to try Round table pizza. Also Another version Mountain Mikes pizza. Specifically the king Arthur's special. IT would be cool if you did a pizza review on these kinds of pizza.

43 years living or working in NYC and I’ve never had an everything bagel. Onion, plain, and cinnamon raison are my go to bagels. I think it’s time to finally try an everything bagel.

@-EchoesIntoEternity-

6 ай бұрын

so you've tried everything except the everything 😁

I know we like NY Bagels but what you need to go is take the path and go to JP Bagels in Hoboken and then you will have the best bagel you can get in the Tristate area.

@SammyCannillo

2 ай бұрын

Agreed! Jersey has amazing bagels, arguably better than NYC. Bigger, fluffier, doesn't squash the cream cheese all over when you bite

Great video! When you get the chance looking forward to seeing you go Montreal and contrast Montreal vs New York bagels!

I give up, I wonder no more..I have come to the conclusion your are here to answer all my life questions.

I am stoked for this series I’ve never had a bagel that wasn’t from Walmart or from Panera bread lol

Charlie, I've been watching your videos for more or less a year now and I just want to say that the increase in the quality of your videos has not been lost on us. You're killing it -- you are genuinely the only person I watch on the internet whose videos I truly look forward to seeing. I can't say there is anyone else who can get me to stop what I'm doing to check their content out. Enjoy the coming holidays and I hope you can find the time to take a much needed vacation!

Let's bagel! It's a Festivus miracle!

For science purposes you need to go to Montreal and try out St Viateur bagels and Fairmount bagels. Montreal is arguably 1A 1B to NYC bagels.

Awesome. Please do a Montreal bagel next.

I'm surprised at the massive amounts of cream cheese they loaded those bagels up with.

@willphelps6715

6 ай бұрын

I agree. If I were going to test different bagel shops, I would get a plain bagel with nothing on it. That way all you are tasing is the dough and cooking process. No cover ups.

@verndogs

6 ай бұрын

I’m not. That is the norm in NYC unless you ask “to go light” with the cream cheese

Best bagels in NYC are over the river in Hoboken, JP’s bagels & Hoboken bagels

OHH!! please be a new series!!

This looks like a good series.

You can get barley malt (and other grain syrups) if you have a homebrew shop in your area.

@CharlieAndersonCooking

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to take a look! I have a few near me.

NJ Bagels 4u. Locations not too far from NYC

I can't claim to be an expert but "light and fluffy" are not the descriptors I think of when I remember the best bagels I've had in NY...

Oh no… not again Charlie…. Are you trying to kill us with deliciousness??

I don't remember if I've ever tasted bagels, but I've been thinking about buying/tasting them when I've seen them in my local Lidl and then, of course, make them if I like them

O man you're gonna hand knead bagels!! Have fun haha Peter Reinhart bagels from the bread bakers apprentice are some of the best bagels I've made and ate (toasted too haha)

@JaiahHazelnutBrown

6 ай бұрын

Yes! I love that recipe and I’ve used it numerous times. I remember taking the train through New York and my fiancé met me from Boston and she picked up some local bagels to compare. The Peter Reinhart bagels won the taste test.

You should try Montreal bagels! Now those are amazing

We use Parchment paper for home bagels. Simply. Never thought of just doing them on the baking pan. We use Honey for boiling part. Going to Amazon to order some malt. Really interested to see the difference compared to honey.

I've been making bagels for going on 20 years using Peter Reinharts recipe from "The Breadbaker's Apprentice." He does call for barley malt syrup - used to be you could find it easily at Whole Foods. Cold ferment. Barley malt syrup and lye in the cook water. One interesting hack to look at is how Modernist Cuisine glues their everything bagel toppings.

Really wished that you could have put the price tags of the different bagels. Keep it up thought 👍

very looking forward to this

Would love to see you make a NY style hard roll aka Kaiser roll for thr classic BEC

I swear some bagel places put a whole packet of Philadelphia cream cheese on them. I too like a medium amount of cream cheese

RUSS AND DAUGHTERS IS THE GOAT

For your series, you need to go to East Long Island. Best bagels and second best is Brooklyn

Just a heads up lots of Whole Food Stores carry Barley Malt Syrup.

Sir, you have a great channel. And NO profanity! Thank you. God bless You.

I open the bagel and salt it since many bagels are undersalted.

Maybe the World's Best Bagel Story...The Bagel Delivery Driver and The Police Chase... Watson Bagels (Newark and Irvington, NJ) - Memories From One Of Their Delivery Drivers… When the third site was opened, the other two sites were closed, since this third store combined the previous two sites into one building. All you saw when you walked into the Watson Bagel store on Chancellor Avenue in Irvington was bins of different bagels and a counter where you paid for the bagels of your choice. A lot of the bagels were cold from sitting around too long and I never liked them although they tasted all right; I guess I was just spoiled by getting hot bagels every time I went into the old stores. The bakery was at the rear of the store and was a sight unseen by the regular walk in customer. The bulk of their business was still centered on supplying the surrounding area with their bagel needs through an evening delivery service but by now, the public sales of bagels had increased to a point where it rivaled the commercial accounts and the Chancellor Avenue store was made to serve both sources of business. Since I still had a friend who worked there, I was brought into the business on a temporary basis to deliver the bagels to the surrounding stores as a driver. On my first night I was a passenger in the company station wagon which doubled as a deliver car while my friend showed me the details of the route he drove. I must tell you the car was loaded with dozens of individual bags of hot, fresh bagels of all types and it was unlike any drive I had ever taken from the sensory point of view. The biggest challenge for me was not to pilfer the bagel bags in the rear of the car!! We were about halfway through the route when suddenly a police siren started yelping directly behind us. Instead of slowing down my friend smiled at me as he stepped on the gas and quickly explained to me the cops chased him almost every night in an effort to get free bagels from him. In time, he decided to play a game with them and made them chase him through the streets to his next drop destination before giving up a dozen bagels! On my maiden drive he made two quick turns and another turn in an effort to shake them but they caught up to us in a shopping center where our next drop was located. They exited their police car with their lights still flashing and jokingly said “Hey guys, How’s the bagels tonight?” They were all laughing about my buddy’s quick turns to avoid them and I remember feeling very out of place because I didn’t know them. The rest of the night was uneventful and in the following nights I found it quite a challenging to stay awake all night long and drive safely. In the process, I guess I got used to the intoxicating smell of the bagels and after a couple of weekends of this I decided it wasn’t my calling and bowed out. Besides, the pay wasn’t all that great but I still miss the amazing experience of driving down the road with a car full of hot fresh bagels to this day! newarkmemories.com/memories/1024.php

The best I tried in Manhattan is from Bagels and Schmear at East 28th street

Oh boy I think there's an "ultimate bagel recipe" video in our future!

Esa's was always my favorite, I literally grew up across from the original, in that complex behind you.... lol I'm looking forward to this one, since moving out of the area it's all but impossible to find a good bagel.

Only toast bagels if their the supermarket kind. But if I'm getting a fresh bagel in NYC warm out the oven there's no need to toast it

For my money, the best bagels are at Terrace Bagels and La Bagel Delite, both in Brooklyn (Windsor Terrace and Park Slope, respectively). And I think Russ and Daughters is known more for their fish than bagels.

@ratherbeboating10

6 ай бұрын

I am lucky enough to have had the second Terrace Bagels in NJ within walking distance to my parents business as a kid. I can say they make a solid bagel. My parents being native to NY still pretty much go there exclusively. Consistent and good quality.

Yooooooooo. My fav pizza ever. Cream cheese balls(add them at the last couple mins) jalapeños and pepperoni. Thank my mom later

Absolute bagels looked killer

Charlie… great work as usual! Really enjoy all your series… please consider baking your bagels on “bagel boards “. They are commonly used in many bagel shops…I do this at home and it’s a game changer.. nothing more than a cedar board covered in burlap. Then soaked in water to prevent them from burning .. you place the hand rolled bagels topping side down, and bake for the first 4-5 minutes, then flip them off the board on to your baking steel.. helps prevent the toppings from burning.. and the moisture adds to the gelatinized dough to form that crusty exterior…another tip for making authentic NY bagels at home. Keep up the great content! kzread.info/dash/bejne/rH-O17OokqWbfLg.htmlfeature=shared 0:12

You went to Absolute! I get their bagels all the time.

Had a pretty similar experience trying bagel places around NYC this past fall. The hype was overrated for sure...russ and daughters had pretty solid lox/balance but the bagel was tough/overly dense. Few other shops had slightly better texture, but most were kinda too dense and stale-ish? Best one I had was from a place called Bagel Pub which I went to randomly for breakfast one day in Greenwich village. Had a thin crisp/chewy crust with a nice airy chew to the bagel. Could actually bite into it and it not be so tough that everything squishes out of the sides of the bagel. It was pretty unassuming, I was surprised that it was the best one I ate. Had more disappointing bagels than good ones while out there sadly. Feel like NYC has so much stuff that's over hyped...maybe it's the marketing/blog/youtube scene or people trying different types of cuisine for the first time in the city thinking it's the best thing ever. Will say though...the sea food in NYC was on point. Went to a korean restaurant (her name is han) and had the most ridiculously good raw scallops in a cold noodle dish.

please review the cuisine art pizza oven xD

I didnt hear it mentioned in the video, but are you planning on bathing the dough in a lye or baking soda solution?

@thisbretthall

6 ай бұрын

I’ve never heard of bathing like this, but have added a small amount of baking soda to the boiling process to nice success (though it does make things very foamy, at least when combined with the barley malt)

How many ounces or grams are authentic NYC bagels? Pre-bake? Charlie, when is the follow up to your bagel video dropping?

Cold smoking (like smoked salmon) isnt cooking. Hot smoking is which gives a completely different texture

Are you going to go to Montreal for the Montreal bagel research?

Popup Bagels and Bagel Hole if you get a chance to return. Trust.

Next time you're here you have to try Popup Bagels!

Toasting a bagel is for day 2 or 3.... fresh bagels shouldn't need the crutch. Also a damp paper towel in the microwave for 30-40 seconds around a stale bagel will bring it back to edible.

Is Charlie going to conquer bagels now? I hope so.

The bagel series, YES. I’ve been waiting for this anxiously. I don’t think you’ll ever make it out to this coast, but the best bagel I’ve ever had - NYC included - is at Courage bagels, located in LA. I never go because the line is always ridiculous, but they’re the best I’ve tried by far and it’s not even close. You really should try to find a way to check them out somehow. It’s a Montreal style bagel though.

Both sides must be coated in seasoning there is no debate

You didn't go to Olde Brooklyn Bagel Shoppe. Error.

Not the water, its the malt boil!

i'd call it suburban vs rural

Like "@mrmambo" below, I also grew up in the NY area and my wife is from Staten island. When we moved to NC 8 years ago, we couldn't find a good pizza or bagel. I've been making both on my own. Your pizza recipe is my current favorite, so I will be watching your bagel progress with great interest. My family loves my bagel recipe and won't let me change a thing, so I'll have to try your recipe on the down low. Cheers! PS. If you want a GREAT NY pizza I could give three places to try in Staten Island.

I'm guessing you're no longer in New York, but I would have also tried a few of places that aren't in videos that you just stumble upon. I've found that the best version of something usually isn't one of the famous ones.

no mention of lye? did i miss it, or is it just a given here?

NY Bagels aren’t supposed to be light and fluffy

Dude much like the best pizza the best bagels in NYC are made in BROOKLYN!

LFG

maybe i'm the crazy one but we would just get a dozen bagels and rip one out and eat it plain. the notion of determining who makes the best new york bagels -- as a product of going around getting a bunch of specialty sandwiches -- kinda misses the actual understanding of what would make one place better than the other.

NY bagels aren't what they were when I was a kid in the late '60s/early '70s. They're big, fluffy nonsense now.

Way too much cream cheese. Probably because Americans would complain if they got slightly less.

Blasphomy on the Ess-a-bagel review my guy.

i wouldnt exactly consider Russ and Daughters for best bagels considering they do not even make their own bagels. merely outsource the bagels to highlight their smoked salmon etc.

@seth8629

6 ай бұрын

Yeah that was a miss

@CharlieAndersonCooking

6 ай бұрын

They do make their own bagels, I saw them doing it while I was there. I got some footage but I don't think I ended up including it in this video.

One tip I got from Kenji that has changed my bagel enjoyment greatly is to toast your bagels whole. It steams the interior of the bagel and when you cut it, you have a warm almost gooey interior instead of a rigid toasted one. It's noticeably different and I highly recommend it. He also said he often flicks a little water on the exterior before toasting whole to help with the moisture in the oven and blistering.

@Scott-yu4yt

6 ай бұрын

Do you toast them whole in an oven?

Most nyc bagels are terrible. Only about 25 truly great shops. Utopia is one of them

The best bagel in NY isn't as good as an average bagel in Fair Lawn, NJ. Just saying.

Why should i trust your opinion on what the best bagel is?

Best bagel in NY is actually in Boston. Cambridge in particular. Bagelsaurus. Lived in NYC and never found a bagel that good.